A spin dependent recombination study of radiation induced defects at and near the Si/SiO2 interface

A new electron spin resonance technique, spin dependent recombination (SDR) permits extremely rapid, high signal to noise ratio electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements of electrically active radiation damage centers in (relatively) hard MOS transistors in integrated circuits. Using SDR the authors observe the radiation induced buildup of Pbo and E' centers at relatively low concentration in individual MOSFETs in integrated circuits with (100) silicon surface orientation. Earlier ESR studies of extremely large (∼1 cm2) capacitor structures have identified Pb and E' centers as the dominant radiation induced defects in MOS devices. The authors discuss how their results extend and confirm these earlier results and at least qualitatively answer objections to the earlier work related to the relevance of large capacitor studies to transistors in an integrated circuit